Crutch



Oct. 1l, 1949. w, R Coli 2,484,401

- CRUTCH Filed Marsh 5, 1946 3, Inventor By A WW *YM-m Patented Oct. l1,1949 'CRUTCH 'William ik. ',Cuie, Des Moines, Iowa Application March 5,194`6,`Serial`No 6521029 i This invention relates to new .and usefulimprovements .and structural ,refinements in crutches, morespecifically, 'to an `adjustable and collapsible crutch, and therprinciple object loithe invention 4is to .provide -a device of the.character hereinwdescribed, .which isfcomposed of a Iplurality ofsections such .as may -be detach-ably land :adjustably connectedtogether by a novel connecting means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a crutch which, byvirtue of the construction above outlined, may be adjusted both as tothe arm length and the overall length thereof, to conform With thephysical requirements of the person lusing the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a crutch which may bereadily disassembled into its major component parts, in order that thesame may be easily and conveniently transported when the crutch is notbeing used.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a crutch in whichsuch adjustment or disassembly may be speedily and convenientlyundertaken without the use of any tools whatever and with theexpenditure of the minimum of effort on the part of the individualperforming the same.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a crutch which issimple in construction, light in weight, attractive in appearance, andwhich will not easily become damaged.

With the above more important objects in view, and such other objects asmay become apparent as this specification proceeds, the inventionconsists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention;

Figure 2 is a front view of the same;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional View, taken in the plane of the line 3 3'in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view, taken in the plane of the line 4-4in Figure 3J Figure 5 is a further cross sectional View similar to thatshown in Figure 4, and illustrating the manner in which the crutch maybe disassembled.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view showing the attachment of theresilient tip to the crutch body. i

Like characters of reference are used to designate like parts in thespecicatitcn and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the inventionconsists of an upper tubular section I0 and the lower tubular section II2 Ithefsame being formed i om any lightweight mal"terial Asuitable lforthe Lpurpose intended.

xarm rest assembly designated generally 'by the reference `vcharacter-I'2 `is 'positioned at .the upper end of section I1), the vassembly I2consisting yof a U-shaped 'yoke 13, provided iin the mid-portion thereofwith a tubular adapter *'l`4, whereby it may be secured to the sectionI0 by the rivets I5. The arms of the yoke I3 are formed with out-turnedend-pieces I6, to which the arm rest body I'I may be secured by means ofsuitable screws I8.

The lower end of the section II carries a resilient tip assemblydesignated generally by the character I9, the same comprising an adapter20 formed at its lower edge With a thickened flange 20 and mounted uponthe section II by means of suitable screws 2|. A substantiallysemi-spherical shoe 22, formed from resilient material and intended toengage the ground, is provided with an integral stem 23 which extendsinto the crutch section II and is secured therein by the aforementionedscrews 2 I.

A substantially rectangular frame 24 is provided in the opposite sidesthereof with a pair of tubular adapters 25 hereinafter to be morelparticularly described, and a cylindrical hand grip 2.6 is suitablymounted between the remaining two sides of the frame, as will be clearlyunderstood from the accompanying drawings.

A tubular extension 2'I is secured at one end in each of the adapters'25 by suitable rivets 28, the remaining end of the extension beingslidably telescoped into the aforementioned sections I0 and II.

The adjacent ends of the sections are each formed with a pair oftransversely aligned apertures 29 and the extensions 21 are providedwith further pairs of vertically aligned apertures 3U.

The means for detachably and adjustably connecting the extensions tothesections are designated generally -by the reference character 3| andcomprise strips of resilient material deiining the clamps 32, the samebeing adapted for removable positioning on the sections I0 and Il, as isbest illustrated in the accompanying Figure 4.

The clamp 32 is secured medially of its length to a pin 3-3, the latterextending diametrically with respect to the clamp, as will be clearlyapparent from the accompanying drawings.

The pin 33 normally passes through the apertures 29 and is removably,that is, selectively receivable in any transversely aligned pair of theapertures 30, and as will be understood with reference to theaccompanying Figure 5. By

removing the clamp 32 from the sections, the pin 33 will be withdrawnfrom the aforementioned apertures and the relative sliding movement ofthe extensions 21 and the sections I0 or Il will thus be facilitated.

When the invention is placed in use, the adjustment for arm length maybe quickly and conveniently made by inserting the pin 33, in the manneralready described, in a suitable pair of apertures in the upper of theextensions 21 associated With the section I0. The overall lengthn of thecrutch as a whole may be further Varied by making a similar adjustmentof the remaining of the extensions 2'! with respect to the section Il.

It will be apparent that in` this manner the longitudinal adjustment ofthe crutch may be simply and speedily undertaken and by removing thehand grip portion-ftogether with the exten- 'sions 2 from the associatedsections IUI and Il,

the entire crutch may be disassembled into three .major components, ashas already been set forth in the opening paragraphs of thisspecification.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it isto be understood that minor vprovidedintegrally on said shoe and extending into said body portion, andfastening elements extending through said adapter and through said bodyYportion into said stem.

l WILLIAM R. COIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis '.patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number -Name Date 1,049,398 Rice Jan. 7, 19132,241,481 Schroeder May 13, 1941 2,373,045

Osborn Apr. 3, 1945

